Distributed dictation/transcription system

ABSTRACT

A distributed dictation/transcription system is provided. The system provides a client station, dictation manager, and dictation server networked such that the dictation manager can select a dictation server to transcribe audio from the client station. The dictation manager selects one of a plurality of dictation servers based on conventional load balancing as well as on a determination of which of the dictation servers may already have a user profile uploaded. Moreover, while selecting a dictation server and/or uploading a profile, the user or client at the client station may begin dictating, which audio would be stored in a buffer of dictation manager until a dictation server was selected and/or available. The user would receive in real time or near real time a display of the textual data that may be corrected by the user. The corrective textual data may be transmitted back to the dictation manager to update the user profile.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §§119 AND 120

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/016,198, filed Dec. 21, 2007, titled REAL-TIME DISTRIBUTEDDICTATION/TRANSCRIPTION, the disclosure of which is incorporated hereinas if by reference.

REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR PATENT

None.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The technology of the present application relates generally to dictationsystems, and more particular, to a distributed dictation system that isadapted to return in real-time or near real-time a transcription of thedictation.

2. Background

Originally, dictation was an exercise where one person spoke whileanother person transcribed what was spoken. With modern technology,dictation has advanced to the stage where voice recognition andspeech-to-text technologies allow computers and processors to serve asthe transcriber.

Current technology has resulted in essentially two styles of computerbased dictation and transcription. One style involves loading softwareon a machine to receive and transcribe the dictation, which is generallyknown as client side dictation. The machine transcribes the dictation inreal-time or near real-time. The other style involves saving thedictation audio file and sending the dictation audio file to acentralized server, which is generally known as server side batchdictation. The centralized server transcribes the audio file and returnsthe transcription. Often the transcription is accomplished after hours,or the like, when the server has less processing demands.

As can be appreciated the present computer based dictation andtranscription systems have drawbacks. One drawback of client sidedictation is that the dictation and transcription is limited to a singleor particular machine, sometimes referred to as a thick or heavy clientas most of the processing is accomplished at the local user's machine.Thus, unless the user has the particular machine available, the usercannot accomplish dictation. One drawback of server side batch dictationis that the transcript is not provided in real or hear real-time. So,while the server side batch dictation systems may use thin clients, thetranscription is not provided in real-time or near real-time.

Moreover, the return time for transcriptions are related to theprocessing power of the, machine accomplishing the transcription. Thus,thick or heavy client machines may have long delays between speech andthe transcription being returned. Often thick or heavy client machinesin the end rely on server side batch dictation as they lack sufficientprocessing power. In either case, the return is delayed, sometimessignificantly.

Published United States Patent Application Publication Number2006/005259 filed by Bahl et al. (hereinafter Bahl), provides a thinclient distributed dictation/transcription system. The disclosure ofBahl is incorporated herein by reference as if set out in full. Inparticular, Bahl discloses using a wireless device, such as a cellularphone, a personal digital assistant, or other electronic device totransmit audio to a networked service manager. The service managerincludes a resource management component and a profile managementcomponent. The resource management component, on receipt of the audio,selects one of a plurality of transcription servers networked to theservice manager. Once a transcription server is selected and thetranscription server accepts the task, the service manager identifies auser or a default voice profile that is uploaded over a network to thetranscription server. The transcription server is selected by theresource management component of the service manager using factors suchas processor availability, network bandwidth, proximity, and the like,where such factors are consistent with typical load balancing devices.Once selected, the audio is sent to the transcription server, whichconverts the audio to text. Bahl does not return the transcription tothe client and does not indicate what, if anything, is done with thetext or transcription file.

Thus, against this background, it is desirable to develop an improveddistributed, real or near real-time dictation and transcription system.

SUMMARY

To attain the advantages and in accordance with the purpose of thetechnology of the present application, a distributed, real-timedictation system is provided. The distributed, real-time dictationsystem includes a client station connected to a dictation manager via anetwork connection. The dictation manager identifies a dictation serverthat includes a speech transcription engine that converts the speechfrom an audio stream or file to transcription results, such as textfiles or meta data, and returns the transcription results to the clientstation in real, or near real time. The dictation manager in selecting atranscription engine identifies if one of the available transcriptionengines has previously been used by the same client and selects thattranscription engine as the user profile is already uploaded to thetranscription engine.

Aspects of the technology of the present invention provide a remoteclient station that simply requires the ability to transmit audio filesvia a streaming connection to the dictation manager or the dictationserver. The dictation server can return the transcription results viathe dictation manager or via a direct connection depending on theconfiguration of the system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary system consistentwith the technology of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary system consistentwith the technology of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of dictation manager and dictationserver of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrative of a methodologyconsistent with the technology of the present application.

FIG. 5 is a sample database containing information and data used incertain illustrative embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrative of a methodologyconsistent with the technology of the present application; and

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram illustrative of a methodologyconsistent with the technology of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technology of the present application will now be explained withreference to FIGS. 1-7. While the technology of the present applicationis described with relation to internet connections and streaming audioover an internet connection using conventional streaming protocols, oneof ordinary skill in the art will recognize on reading the disclosurethat other configurations are possible. For example, the technology ofthe present application is described with regard to a thin clientstation but more processor intensive options could be deployed.Moreover, the technology of the present application is described withregard to certain exemplary embodiments. The word “exemplary” is usedherein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Anyembodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Allembodiments described herein should be considered exemplary unlessotherwise stated.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a distributed dictation system 100 isprovided. Distributed dictation system 100 may provide transcription ofdictation in real-time or near real-time allowing for delays associatedwith transmission time, processing, and the like. Of course, delay couldbe built into the system to allow, for example, a user the ability toselect either real-time or batch transcriptions services. For example,to allow batch transcription services, system 100 may cache audio filesat a client device, a server, a transcription engine or the like toallow for later transcription of the audio file to text that may bereturned to the client station or retrieved by the client at a latertime.

As shown in distributed dictation system 100, one or more clientstations 102 are connected to a dictation manager 104 by a first networkconnection 106. First network connection 106 can be any number ofprotocols to allow transmission of audio information using a standardinternet protocol. Client station 102 would receive audio (i.e.,dictation) from a user via a microphone 108 or the like. While shown asa separate part, microphone 108 may be integrated into client station102, such as, for example, a cellular phone. Also, while shown as amonitor or computer station, client station 102 may be a wirelessdevice, such as a wifi enabled computer, a cellular telephone, a PDA, asmart phone, or the like. Client station 102 also may be a wired device,such as a laptop or desktop computer, using conventional internetprotocols to transmit audio.

Dictation manager 104 may be connected to one or more dictation servers110 by a second network connection 112. Second network connection 112may be the same or different than first network connection. Secondnetwork connection also may be any of a number of conventional wirelessor wired connection protocols. Dictation manager 104 and dictationserver 100 may be a single integrated unit connected via a PCI bus orother conventional bus. Each dictation server 110 incorporates oraccesses a speech transcription engine as is generally known in the art.Operation of the speech transcription engine will not be furtherexplained herein except as necessary in conjunction with, the technologyof the present application as speech recognition and speechtranscription engines are generally understood in the art. For any givendictation, dictation manager 104 would direct the audio file from clientstation 102 to an appropriate dictation server 110 that, wouldtranscribe the audio and return transcription results, i.e., the text ofthe audio. The connection between client station 102 and dictationserver 110 may be maintained via dictation manager 104. Alternatively, aconnection may be established directly between client station 102 anddictation server 110. Additionally, dictation manager 104 may manage anumber of simultaneous connections so several, client stations 102 anddictation servers 110 can be managed by dictation manager 104. Dictationmanager 104 also provides the added benefit of facilitating access tobetween multiple client stations and multiple dictation servers over,for example, using a conventional call center where management andadministration of changing clients is difficult to accomplish.

Network connections 106 and 112 may be any conventional networkconnections capable of providing streaming audio from client station 102to dictation manager 104 and from dictation manager 104 to the dictationserver 110. Moreover, dictation manager 104 may manage the transmissionof data in both directions. From the client station 102, dictationmanager 104 receives the audio stream and directs the audio stream to adictation server 110. The dictation server 110 transcribes the audio totext and transmits the text to dictation manager 104 and dictationmanager 104 directs the text back to client station 102 to display on amonitor or other output device associated with client station 102. Ofcourse, similar to caching the audio for later transcription, the textmay be stored for later retrieval by the user of client station 102.Storing the text for later retrieval may be beneficial for situationswhere the text cannot be reviewed due to conditions, such as driving acar, or the client station does not have a sufficient display to namebut two situations. Network connections 106 and 112 allow streaming datafrom dictation server 110 though dictation manager 104 to client station102. Dictation manager 104 may manage the data as well. Client station102 would use the data from dictation server 110 to populate a displayon client station 102, such as, for example, a text document that may bea word document.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a distributed dictation system 200 is provided.Distributed dictation system 200 is similar to distributed dictationsystem 100, but includes a number of dictation managers 202. Also,client stations 102 are connected to one of the dictation managers 202via a first network connection 204 where the first network connection204 is an Internet connection or World Wide Web connection. Moreover,dictation manager 202 is connected to dictation servers 110 via a secondnetwork connection 206 where the second network connection 206 also isan Internet connection or World Wide Web connection. As can beappreciated, the technology of the present application is a very robustand scalable solution for remote dictation.

Referring to FIG. 3, dictation manager 104 is shown in more detail.Dictation managers 202 would be substantially similar. Dictation manager104/202 includes a processor 302, such as a microprocessor, chipsets,field programmable gate array logic, or the like, that controls themajor functions of the manager, such as, for example, obtaining a userprofile with respect to a user of client station 102, selection of adictation server 110, or the like. Processor 302 also processes variousinputs and/or data that may be required to operate the dictation manager104/202. Dictation manager 104/202 also includes a memory 304 that isinterconnected with processor 302. Memory 304 may be remotely located orco-located with processor 302. The memory 304 stores processinginstructions to be executed by processor 302. The memory 304 also maystore data necessary or convenient for operation of the dictationsystem. For example, memory 304 may store the transcription for theclient so that the transcription may be processed later by the client.At least a portion of memory 304 includes user profiles 305 associatedwith users of distributed dictation system 100 or distributed dictationsystem 200. User profiles 305 would be associated with individual usersby a pass code, user identification number, biometric information or thelike and is usable by dictation servers 110 to facilitate the speechtranscription engine in converting the audio to text. Associating usersand user profiles using a database or relational memory is not furtherexplained except in the context of the present invention. Memory 304 maybe any conventional media and include either or both volatile ornonvolatile memory. Dictation manager 104/202, optionally, may bepreprogrammed so as not to require a user interface 306, but typicallydictation manager 104/202 includes user interface 306 that isinterconnected with processor 302. Such user interface 306 could includespeakers, microphones, visual display screens, physical input devicessuch as a keyboard, mouse or touch screen, track wheels, cams or specialinput buttons to allow a user to interact with dictation manager104/202. Dictation managers have a network interface 308 (as would theclient station and the dictation server) to allow transmissions andreception of data (text, audio, or the like) between networked devices.Client station 102 and dictation servers 110 would have structuresimilar to the dictation manager.

Dictation manager 104/202 would accept requests from client station 102and direct the streaming audio to dictation servers 110 in any of anumber of conventional manners. One exemplary methodology is provided inU.S. Pat. No. 7,185,094, issued on Feb. 27, 2007, to Marquette et al.,titled Media session framework using a control module to direct andmanage application and service servers, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference as if set out in full. Using themethodology, dictation manager 104, for example, would receive a requestfor dictation services from client station 102. Dictation manager 104would send a service request to the dictation servers 110 until one ofthe dictation servers 110 sends back an acceptance of the servicerequest. Audio would then be streamed from client station 102 to thedictation manager 104 which would in turn stream the audio to dictationserver 110. Dictation server 110 would then transcribe dictation byusing the speech transcription engine associated with dictation server110, and the transcription results would be sent back to client station102 through the dictation manager 104 as textual data. Alternatively, orin combination with the above, processor 302 could incorporate a loadbalancing device similar to the resource manager service discussed inBahl.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a flow chart 400 is provided illustrative of amethodology of using the technology of the present application. Whiledescribed in a series of discrete steps, one of ordinary skill in theart would recognize on reading the disclosure that the steps providedmay be performed in the described order as discrete steps, a series ofcontinuous steps, substantially simultaneously, simultaneously, in adifferent order, or the like. Moreover, other, more, less, or differentsteps may be performed to use the technology of the present application.In the exemplary methodology, however, a user at client station 102would first select a dictation application from a display 116 on clientstation 102, step 402. The selection of an application that has beenenabled for dictation that can be either a client or web basedapplication. The application may be selected using a conventionalprocess, such as, for example, double clicking on an icon, selecting theapplication from a menu, using a voice command, or the like.Alternatively to selecting the application from a menu on a display,client station 102 may connect to the server running the application byinputting an internet address, such as a URL, or calling a number usingconventional call techniques, such as, for example PSTN, VoIP, acellular connection or the like. The application as explained above maybe web enabled, loaded on the client station, or a combination thereof.Client station 102 would establish a connection to dictation manager 104using a first network connection 106/204, step 404. Dictation manager104 may be integrated into one of the client station 102 as a matter ofdesign choice or a stand alone unit as shown. The first networkconnection could be via a LAN, WAN, WLAN, WiFi, Ethernet, WiMax,Bluetooth, Internet or the like. Alternatively, the connection may be abus or ribbon, such as, for example, a PCI bus. The dictation managernext identifies and connects to one of the dictation servers 110 via asecond network connection, steps 406/408. The second network connectionalso could be any of a LAN, WAN, WLAN, WiFi, Ethernet, WiMax, Bluetooth,Internet or the like. Alternatively, the second connection also may be abus, ribbon, or the like. The selection of a dictation server 110 for anexemplary embodiment will be further described below. Typically, thefirst and second network connections would be the same, but they do notneed to be the same. Once the communication link of step 404 isestablished, the user of client station 102 may begin dictating audio tobe transcribed. The audio signal would be stored in a buffer associatedwith memory 304 until the communication link of step 408 is established.At that time, the dictation manager 104/202 may transmit an audio signalto the dictation server as explained below. Using most conventional freeform dictation processes today, dictation server 110 and an associatedspeech transcription engine will use a user profile to facilitatetranscription of the dictation. Thus, the user of client station 102optionally transmits a user identification to the dictation manager,step 410. The dictation manager would retrieve a user profile based onthe user identification, step 412. The user identification could be anyconventional identification, such as, for example, a user password, auser identifier, a device identifier, a biometric identifier, or anyassociation as is generally understood in the art. The user profile istransmitted to dictation server 110 to facilitate transcription, step414. Once the connection between the client station 102 and dictationserver 110 is established though the dictation manager 104 and the userprofile (if available or necessary) is uploaded to dictation server 110,client station 102 streams audio (i.e., dictation) to dictation server110 though dictation manager 104, step 416. The audio signal may bestored in a buffer associated with memory 304 of dictation manager104/202 or streamed from client station 102 through dictation manager104/202 or streamed directly from client station 102 to dictation server110. Optionally, client station 102 may provide controls such as, start,stop, pause, reverse, etc., similar to a conventional tape to start,stop, pause, or the like, of dictation manager 104. One type of controlmay simply be a talk icon on display 116 that a user would click tobegin dictation and click to cease dictation. Dictation manager 104receives the streamed audio from client station 102 and directs theaudio to a speech recognition engine, step 418. Optionally, the audiosignal may be streamed from a buffer as mentioned above, streamed fromclient station to dictation manager to dictation server or directly fromclient station to dictation server. Speech transcription engine convertsthe audio to text—in other words—performs transcription, step 420, andtransmits the transcription result to dictation manager 104 which inturn transmits the transcription result to client station 102 by, forexample, streaming or downloading the text to client station 102, step422. The transcription file may be generally referred to as textualdata. Alternatively or in combination with sending the textual datadirectly to the client station, the textual data may be stored in memory304. Client station 102 displays the transcription results, such as, forexample, supplying text in a word document on display 116 of clientstation 102, step 424. The user may use client station 102 to correctthe textual data from the transcription file to generate correctivetextual data, step 426. The corrective textual data may be transmittedback to dictation manager 104/202 to update the user profile with thecorrections in a manner generally known in the art associated withtraining a user profile, step 428.

To avoid inadvertently holding resources, the connection between clientstation 102 and dictation manager 104 or connections between dictationmanager 104 and dictation server 110 may optionally have a time outfeature where a period of silence for a predetermined time would cause aconnection break so either the client station 102 or the dictationserver 110 could be freed for other uses.

Notice, optionally, if a dictation server 110 is not available, thedictation manager may batch or cache the audio file in, for example,memory 304 until a dictation server becomes available. Thus, thedictation may be delayed, but provided as soon as a dictation server isavailable to begin the dictation. The batch or cache of audio also couldallow the user to begin dictation while the dictation server isuploading the user profile. In this case, a buffer, such as memory 304,may store the audio file until a dictation server becomes available.Once available, the dictation manager 104 may stream the audio from thebuffer to the dictation server.

Optionally, a user at client station 102 may select batch styledictation to conserve processing resources. In this instance, clientstation 102, dictation manager 104/202, dictation server 110, or someother accessible memory may store the audio file for later processing.

Using the technology of the present application provides a distributed,real or near real time server based dictation. This technology allowsremote users to connect to a dictation server from anywhere in the worldto perform a real time or near real time transcription. This technologyof the present application allows many advantages which include, forexample,

-   -   Dynamic user profile loading;    -   Dictation affinity;    -   Dictation load balancing;    -   Corrective and real time training;    -   Distributed audio and user profile data;    -   High availability of dictation servers; and    -   Adaptive Training.

Dynamic User Profile Loading

Current dictation systems force the user profile to be set in advance totranscription. In other words, the user profile must be, loaded on themachine performing the transcription, which in the present applicationcorresponds to the dictation servers. Bahl, for example, either uploadsthe user profile or uses a default profile pre-stored at the dictationserver. Only after uploading of the user profile, is an acknowledgementsent to the client device to begin transcription. The technology of thepresent application allows for real time user profile loading such thatthe user can begin dictation prior to uploading a user profile and, infact, prior to even identifying a transcription engine. The frameworkallows any application developer to determine which user profile to loadand when to load it. The user profile can be loaded while the user isstill speaking resulting in faster transcription times, removing thebatch nature and introducing real time server based transcriptions.Moreover, as will be described further below, the present technologywill remember which dictation servers still have valid user profilesuploaded. The dictation manager will, in some embodiments,preferentially select those dictation servers to reduce the need toupload a user's profile multiple times.

Dictation Affinity

The technology of the present application provides a dictation frameworkto support a new affinity for transcriptions being performed by users.The technology developed can track which server was last used for thecurrent user's transcription and direct the request to that server. Thisavoids the problem of the server having to reload the user profile andincreases the speed in which the transcription of audio can occur. Inaddition to this optimized profile management, the technology of thepresent application provides a dictation framework that providespriority based dictation. This allows high priority transcriptions fromusers to be processed before other transcription requests are processed.

Dictation Server Load Balancing

The technology of the present application provides a dictation frameworkthat allows for dictation server load balancing. This technology allowsuser requests to be spread across multiple servers to improve usertranscription time. The load balancing is facilitated by the dictationmanager which maintains a list of available, dictation servers and thestate of these servers. Load balancing decisions will be made based onserver state. The load balancing may be triggered by, but not limitedto, queue length, average time to process requests, CPU utilization,memory utilization, user class, or available disk space.

Corrective and Real Time Training

The technology of the present application provides a dictation frameworkthat allows for real time correct training for dictation user profilesto the extent user profiles are necessary to facilitate dictation andtranscription. This is performed by allowing users the ability to modifythe transcription results and feed these back to the server in realtime. The dictation servers then run the training algorithm with themodified text and the stored audio file. The modified user profile isthen republished to all dictation servers.

The technology of the present application may be implemented to providereal time training through a Java API. This allows the training API tobe plugged into any application and allow access to server basedtraining. This allows the technology of the present application toremove the dependency of the user having to have access to the server toprovide training data and execute the batch training application—i.e.,training can be from anywhere at any time.

Distributed Audio and User Profile Data

Using the technology of the present application provides a dictationframework that users are allowed to store and retrieve user profiles anddictation audio through a distributed network. Traditional dictationprocesses require the user profile data and user audio to be storedlocally. The dictation framework is able to store and retrieve thedictation user profile and audio on any network storage device. Thissolves the constraint of the audio having to be supplied locally throughthe system running the dictation process. The dictation framework doesnot care where the audio input is coining from. It can come from, but isnot limited to, audio, telephone, media gateway, RTP, RMI, or Citrix forexample.

High Availability of Dictation Servers

The technology of the present application provides a dictation frameworkthat makes dictation servers highly available. The dictation frameworkhas the ability to recover from dictation server crashes and overloadeddictation servers. When the dictation manager is overloaded or reached apredetermined number of dictation server registrations, it will directservers and user requests to another dictation manager that isconfigured for dictation requests. Dictation managers are also able tomanage a dynamic set of dictation servers. Today if users run adictation process on their desktop, they must always work from thatdesktop or ensure they can copy their profile to new desktops. The otheroption for users is to submit a batch request to a server and receiveresults at some unknown time. With the technology of the presentapplication, the dictation framework provides users the ability toobtain a level of n+k redundancy.

As mentioned above, the dictation manager may track what user profilesare sent to particular dictation servers. For example, as shown in FIG.5, dictation manager 104 may include a database, such as Database 500stored in, for example, memory 304. Database 500 may provide a userprofile field 502, such as, for example, user profile XYZ representingCharlie Brown's user profile. Database 500 may further provide a seriesof dictation server fields 504 _(1−n) that identify dictation server 110₄ in field 504 ₁ that may indicate Charlie Brown's user profile was lastuploaded to dictation server 110 ₄. Field 504 ₂ may identify dictationserver 110 ₇ was the dictation server that had Charlie Brown's userprofile uploaded prior to uploading the profile to dictation server 110₄. Field 504 ₃ may identify dictation server 110 ₃ was the dictationserver that had Charlie Brown's user profile uploaded prior to uploadingthe profile to dictation server 110 ₇. The history may be maintained aslong as desired.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an exemplary methodology associated withidentifying and selecting a dictation server 110 is provided. First, auser of client station 102 initiates an application capable ofdictation, step 602, and establishes a communication link to dictationmanager 104/202, step 604. User or client station 102 transmits anidentifier or user identifier to dictation manager 104/202, such as, forexample, a password and login that identifies the user as Charlie Brown,step 606. Dictation manager 104/202 uses the user identifier and matchesthe user identifier with the appropriate user profile, step 607. Next,dictation manager would review database 500 to determine if CharlieBrown's user profile had been previously uploaded to at least onedictation server, step 608. If Charlie Brown's user profile had beenpreviously uploaded to, for example, dictation server 110 ₄, dictationmanager 104/202 would next determine whether dictation server 110 ₄ isavailable using conventional methodologies, such as previously describedin Marquette and Bahl identified above. If dictation server 110 ₄ isavailable, dictation manager would direct the audio to dictation server110 ₄ without first retrieving and uploading a profile as describedabove.

If no user profile is identified (or if the user is not identified), auser identifier and a user profile may be established or the user mayelect to use a default profile, step 614. Optionally, the call may beterminated. If the user profile has not previously been uploaded, or theuser is not identified, does not have a user profile, or a defaultprofile is used, an appropriate dictation sever may be selected usingconventional load balancing or resource selection methods as explainedin, for example, Marquette or Bahl, step 616.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an exemplary methodology associated withidentifying a user profile is provided. First, dictation managerreceives a user identification, step 702. User identification, asmentioned above, may be a login identification and password, biometric,or the like as are conventionally known in the art and will not befurther explained herein except as necessary to understand the presentinvention. The dictation manager 104/202 next reviews stored userprofiles to determine whether the user identification matches a storeduser profile, step 704. If a match is made, the dictation managerselects the matched user profile as the user profile for the user. Thememory 304 may, for example, store user profiles and useridentifications in a file system or relational database similar todatabase 500 explained above.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented aselectronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Toclearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the describedfunctionality in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), aField Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A dictation manager having a network connectionto at least one client station and at least one dictation server,comprising: at least one network data port to receive audio signals froma client station, to transmit the received audio signals to a dictationserver, to receive textual data from the dictation server where thetextual data comprises data from the audio signal transformed intotextual data by the dictation server, and to transmit textual data tothe at least one client station; a dictation server selector to selectone of the at, least one dictation servers from which the dictationmanager transrhits the received audio signal and receives the textualdata; at least one memory containing a user profile, an indication ofwhether the user profile has been uploaded to and maintained by any ofthe at least one dictation server, an indication of which of the atleast one dictation server to which the user profile has been uploaded,and a buffer to cache the received audio signal; wherein if thedictation server selector determines that the user profile has, beenuploaded previously and prior to transmitting the received audio to oneof the at least one dictation servers, the dictation server selectorselects as the one of the at least one dictation server a dictationserver to which the user profile has already been uploaded; wherein ifthe dictation server selector determines that the user profile has notbeen uploaded, the dictation server selector selects any one of the atleast one dictation server and uploads the user profile; and wherein thedictation manager stores the received audio signal in the buffer andtransmits the audio signal from the buffer once the dictation server isselected by the dictation server selector, such that the textual data istransmitted to the at least one client station in at least one ofreal-time or near real-time.
 2. The dictation manager of claim 1 whereinthe at least one network data port comprises a plurality of data portsconfigured to receive and transmit audio signals and data signals. 3.The dictation manager of claim 2 wherein the audio signal is stored inthe buffer while the dictation server selector is selecting one of theat least one dictation server.
 4. The dictation manager of claim 1wherein the dictation server selector further comprises a load balancer.5. The dictation manager of claim 4 wherein the dictation serverselector Selects a dictation server based on a determination of the loadbalancer only if the user profile has not been previously uploaded. 6.The dictation manager of claim 5 wherein the determination is based atleast one of queue length, average time to process, process load, andmemory.
 7. The dictation manager of claim 1 further comprising a userprofile corrector wherein the dictation manager receives correctivetextual data from the client station and the user profile correctorupdates the user profile based on the corrective textual data.
 8. Amethod of distributed dictation and transcription performed using atleast one processor associated with a dictation manager, the methodcomprising the steps of: receiving an audio signal from a user operatinga client station; identifying a user profile stored in a memory of thedictation manager associated with the user of the received audio signal;determining whether the identified user profile Of the user has beenpreviously provided to and is still retained by one of a plurality ofdictation servers coupled to the dictation manager based on a previouslyreceived audio signal; selecting from the plurality of dictation serversthe one to which the user profile has already been provided and is stillretained by; causing the audio signal to be converted into a textualdata signal by transmitting the received audio signal to the selecteddictation server and receiving from the selected dictation servertranscription textual data; and transmitting transcription textual datato the client station in at least one of real-time or near real-time. 9.The method of claim 8 wherein the step of selecting the dictation serveralso comprises balancing a load between dictation servers,
 10. Themethod of claim 8 wherein the step of determining whether the identifieduser profile has been previously provided comprises determining at leasttwo dictation servers of the plurality of dictation servers have beenpreviously provided with the identified user profile and the step ofselecting the dictation server further comprises selecting one of the atleast two dictation servers to balance a load between the at least twodictation servers.
 11. The method of claim 8 wherein the step ofdetermining whether the identified user profile has been previouslyprovided to any of the plurality of dictation servers determines theidentified user profile has not been previously provided and the step ofselecting the one dictation server from the plurality of dictationservers comprises balancing a load between the plurality of dictationservers and further comprising the step of transmitting the identifieduser profile to the selected one of the plurality of dictation servers.12. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of buffering theaudio signal prior to the step of causing the audio to be converted intotextual data.
 13. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step ofbuffering the audio signal until the identified user profile istransmitted to the selected one of the plurality of dictation servers.14. The method of claim 8 further comprising the steps of: receiving arevised textual data signal from the client station wherein the revisedtextual data signal comprises at least one correction of thetranscription; using the revised textual data signal to modify theidentified user profile; and storing the modified, identified userprofile.
 15. A system to provide a client station with a distributeddictation and transcription service comprising: at least one dictationmanager having a network connection to at least one client station, thenetwork connection comprising at least one of a data port to receiveaudio signals from the at least one client station, to transmit textualdata to the at least one client station, to receive textual data fromthe at least one client station, and to transmit textual data to the atleast one client station; at least one dictation server comprising atleast one transcription, engine to transform audio signals of dictatedwords to textual data signals; at least one network connection betweenthe at least one dictation manager and the at least one dictation serveradapted to transmit audio signals and textual data signals, between theat least one dictation manager and the at least one dictation server;the at least one dictation manager comprising a processor with a meansfor selecting one of the at least one dictation servers to transformaudio signals of-dictated words to textual data signals; and a memorycontaining at least one user profile arid information indicating whichof the at least one dictation servers has been provided the at least oneuser profile and wherein the information is used by the means forselecting to direct the audio to a selected one of the dictation serversif the user profile has been provided and is still maintained by theselected one of the at least one dictation servers.
 16. The system ofclaim 15 wherein the means for selecting one of the at least onedictation servers comprises a load balancer.
 17. The system of claim 15Wherein the means for selecting one of the at least one dictation serverComprises a determiniator that uses the information in memory todetermine one of the at least one dictation servers that has beenprovided with the at least one user profile.
 18. The system of claim 15wherein the dictation manager transmits a user profile to the selectedone of the at least one dictation servers.
 19. The system of claim 18wherein the audio signal received from the client station by thedictation manager is stored in a buffer while the dictation manager istransmitting the user profile.
 20. The system of claim 15 wherein bedictation manager comprises a user profile corrector that updates theuser profile based on received corrective textual data from the clientstation.